Engage infants and toddlers in learning basic math, science and reading skills with educational experiences in music, dance, theatre and visual arts.
innovative arts-based teaching strategies and services for preschool children
YALA is the Louisiana affiliate of Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning Through the Arts, a program of Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts.
Louisiana Wolf Trap Programs for Early Learners
“I love my Wolf Trap Residency! I wish the program could be year-round! All the artists I’ve had have been excellent!”
Participants in Louisiana Wolf Trap Early Learning Residencies receive access to a research-tested, innovative professional development program that enriches instructional practice and helps to make teachers more effective. Our LWT residency program pairs master teaching artists with classroom educators to co-teach over 16 classroom sessions. Over the span of the residency, teachers will learn how they can foster creativity, critical thinking, and emergent literacy skills through music, movement, drama, and puppetry.
Since 2014, multi-year support from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation has allowed Young Audiences to offer our Louisiana Wolf Trap Classroom Residency Program at Kingsley House and Educare Head Start and Early Head Start centers. Building on the success of the residencies, YALA launched a series of arts-integrated workshops at local libraries to assist caregivers with early literacy strategies they could implement at home. Generous funding from Baptist Community Ministries in 2018 enabled YALA to expand this initiative to serve early learners and their teachers at 30 Total Community Action Early Head Start and Head Start classrooms. YALA is also excited to announce support from the Institute of Mental Hygiene to conduct the program at Royal Castle Child Development Center with the goal of improving student social/emotional wellness during the 2018-19 academic year.
Louisiana Wolf Trap: Available in 5 Sessions or 16 Sessions
Supported by The Helis Foundation
Our 30-minute workshops allow children to explore, observe and investigate their world and the museum through song, dance and movement experiences. Now in its seventh year, Baby ArtsPlay!™ Presented by The Helis Foundation is engaging families with infants and toddlers through multi-sensory interactive sessions at local cultural, arts, and history institutions. Caregivers learn how they can use arts strategies to promote childhood development in their everyday life. Our community partners include: New Orleans Museum of Art, Ogden Museum of Southern Art, New Orleans African American Museum, Newcomb Art Museum and the New Orleans Jazz Museum.
“My son loved the song welcoming everyone. We thought he was a bit young, but this sealed the deal to make sure we didn’t miss out on these events in the future! It is a memory my family will have forever.”
Supported by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation
Building on the success of our Louisiana Wolf Trap residencies, YALA launched a series of arts-integrated workshops at local libraries to assist caregivers with early literacy strategies they could implement at home. Our active learning workshops travel to New Orleans Public Libraries to explore stories through the performing arts. While the subject manner focuses on families with children in preschool through kindergarten, it is open to all ages. As part of the program, all children receive snacks and a free book. YALA’s Community Arts and Literacy Workshops are presented in partnership with New Orleans Public Libraries.
About Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning Through the Arts
Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning Through the Arts, the flagship education program of Wolf Trap Foundation of the Performing Arts, embraces active learning for children through customized, hands-on professional development for early childhood educators. Through its affiliate network and national office, the Institute works with educators and families across the U.S. and Singapore to deliver professional development and arts experiences both inside and outside of the classroom. Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning Through the Arts works with nearly 100,000 children, educators, artists, administrators, and policymakers in school districts across the U.S. and around the world every year. Young Audiences is one of 23 Wolf Trap affiliates in the nation, joining as the regional affiliate in 2010.
Learn more about the Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning Through the Arts.